LGBT Parenting Roundup

Your weekly medley of LGBT parenting news. (No vlog this week; Helen and I have both been swamped with other work. Please come back for one next Thursday.)

Personal stories:

• Transgender man Thomas Beatie and his wife Nancy welcomed their second child into the world Tuesday. All appear to be doing well.
• Single mom Judy Lawrence writes in the Boston Globe about how her second-grade daughter is dealing without a dad in a world that largely expects one. Lawrence’s orientation is unclear, but it doesn’t matter; her experience, and her daughter’s, will resonate with many of us. When her cousin takes the girl to her school’s father-daughter dance, she writes, “I learned a bit about my daughter from this experience. She is resilient. She will get through whatever she needs to. It doesn’t matter if you dance solo or don’t dance at all. What matters is that you show up at the dance. What matters is that you know you are loved.”
• Lesbian mom Isobel White writes at HuffPo of her four marriages to the same woman, and how having children impacts her thoughts on marriage.

People who don’t get it:

• A same-sex couple and their three foster children were denied a reduced admission price to a pool in eastern Idaho, after the Lava Hot Springs Foundation told them the state defines a family as one male, one female, and children. The ACLU in Boise countered that the state code defines marriage but has no universal definition of a family.
• Teachers and administrators at a high school in Vallejo, California did not stop harassment of a lesbian student, and in fact tried to counsel her to change her orientation. The student, Rochelle Hamilton, is now suing the school.

School issues:

• Pam points out that EqualityNC has launched a video to raise awareness about the School Violence Prevention Act (HB 548, SB 526) before it heads to the House for the final vote.
• School officials in Knox County, Tenn., have now adjusted Internet filtering software that prevented district computers from accessing LGBT advocacy Web sites while allowing access to “ex-gay” sites. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the district in May. The school says they fixed the software independent of the lawsuit.

Legal and political issues:

• Joanna Grossman, professor of law at Hofstra University, has written an excellent column on same-sex families, adoption, and the problems of inter-state recognition.
• The Florida state Supreme Court on June 4 rejected a request from the conservative Liberty Counsel to throw out the Florida Bar’s amicus brief against the state’s ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians.
• As I mentioned earlier in the week, because it was such good news, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, a lesbian couple who have been fostering an 18-month-old girl since shortly after she was born, can maintain custody and not turn the child over to an opposite-sex couple for adoption, as ordered by a lower court.
• Filipino lesbian mom Shirley Tan testified before the Senate judiciary committee about the proposed Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). Tan has been living with her partner Jay Mercado for 23 years. They have been registered domestic partners since 2004, and have 12-year-old twins. When one of her sons began to cry during her testimony, Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy kindly asked he might want to sit in another room, and told the boy, “Young man, your mother’s a very brave woman. You should be very proud of her.” Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the only Republican who attended, on the other hand reportedly said to one of his aides, “Enough with the histrionics.”
• Joan Garry explains that one of the strongest arguments for marriage equality is that it protects children. (True to an extent, but given the patchwork of state and federal laws we have at the moment, marriage alone isn’t enough.)

See mom run:

• Houston City Controller and lesbian mom Annise Parker is running to become mayor of the city. If she wins, Houston will be the largest U.S. city with an openly LGBT mayor. In an interview with GayPolitics.com, she noted, “Although our daughters understand there is a downside, they also know there are benefits that most other children don’t have. They get to meet interesting people and have unique life experiences.”
• Florida lesbian mom Miriam “Mimi’ Planas has announced her candidacy for Miami-Dade County’s District 10 Commission seat.